Ngái people

The Ngái are an ethnic community found in Vietnam and other parts of Indochina, largely descended from the Hakka people of southern China. The Vietnamese government classifies the Ngai distinctly from the Cantonese people when considering ethnic minority groups. The term "Ngai" comes from the Hakka Chinese first person pronoun "ngai", and some Ngai use the endonym "San Ngai".

Overview

The Ngái people speak the Hakka language, a Sinitic language but are classified separately from the Hoa or urban ethnic "Overseas Chinese" by the Vietnamese government as they have been living in the modern-day lands of Vietnam for centuries. The Ngái population was 4,841 in 1999 but down only 1,035 in 2009 and up to 1,649 in 2019.